You Are Broken
by Kayseetwin
Summary: The long awaited Rob's POV story. Takes place between books 4 and 5. When Jess catches Rob kissing a blonde, what does he think? Rated T just to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Leave me alone! *hiss*

Author's Note: Welcome, to the long awaited Rob's point of view story! This story is the time between books 4 and 5, when Jess catches Rob with Miss Huge Boobs. Please PLEASE review. I can't tell you how much it helps me continue. Check back soon for the second part!

* * *

The smell of oil hit me like a hammer. It was a familiar, welcome smell that I recognized as one of home. There was nothing more reassuring than knowing that you could fix something that regular people couldn't. And as I wrestled with Nancy's, my current customer, carburetor, a feeling of satisfaction grew in me. As usual, I fixed her car, and as I slammed the hood down, I wiped off my hands on my jeans. "Your car's fixed. You really should get a whole new car. I can only do so much with that monster."

A delighted squeal erupted from Nancy. Her blond hair bounced as she jumped up and down, and she threw her arms around me. She giggled and said "Oh Rob! You are a god, an absolute god!" And then, again as usual, she kissed me sloppily.

Yeah, that's me. Rob Wilkins. Owner of the local mechanic shop. That ownership happened recently, along with my acquisition and redecoration of my mother's house. I'm also a student at the night community college. I'm a pretty busy guy.

But before you ask, no. Nancy is not my girlfriend. She's an extremely excitable customer who kisses the mechanics on a daily basis. But I have a girlfriend. Sorta.

Her name's Jess. Jessica Mastriani. Yeah. Lightning Girl. Or ex Lightning Girl, if the headlines I read consistently about her were correct. But she's more than headlines. She really is.

Jess is jailbait. I mean that in a...well, it's not good. For me, it's never been. The moment she moved back to the W section in detention, she drew my eye. Not many girls would talk to us W's in this town. Then again, not many girls in this town would be put in detention for punching the star football player. So when she responded to the note I'd passed her, I was determined to meet her.

I was one of the last people to see her before her powers began. And I was the first guy to take her out on a motorcycle. And I'm pretty sure I was her first kiss too. She nearly fell off my motorcycle at the time it happened. I still remember her eyes after. Defiant, nervous, and over the moon in happiness. It was a look I'd memorized carefully.

It was the look she had when she told me she loved me. Which I never wanted her to say. It made telling her I couldn't date her until she was eighteen far worse. But that's what I did.

And I regretted it every day.

How was I to know she would go to damn war? The one place she could go where she had to have known I couldn't go, and she went there.

If she had decided to move to Washington, I'd have hopped on my motorcycle and followed her plane there if I could guarantee we would be together. But no. She went to freaking Afghanistan.

The little fool.

She didn't know that every day I woke up, haunted with thoughts of her. She didn't know that I constantly worried over her. She didn't know that every day she was somewhere I couldn't help her, I panicked. I had been there for her through every stupid adventure, each time where she scared me so much that I nearly lost the control I needed.

Fool.

Through her emails, we kept in touch, and in the meantime, I built my life up. I bought my house. I bought the garage. I went to school. I became THE guy. The one her parents wouldn't hate. And I did it for her.

So ever since the war, I've been waiting. I check in with Douglas daily to see when she'd be coming home. He told me this week was the week.

Which is why, for once, I didn't push Nancy off. I let her kiss me, because I knew that it wouldn't be long before Jess would come home. I was going to be happy soon. So one kiss? What could it hurt?

I soon found, it could hurt a lot.


	2. Chapter 2

I know I know I KNOW!

I suck!

I'm so sorry for the massive delay. But here's the next chapter, and I'll have the third part up hopefully by Friday!

Thanks to all who still bother to read this. I dunno if I like this chapter, but the next one is the confrontation so that one is gonna rock. I hope.

Pleaseeee Review. It makes me so happy when people do.

=D

Disclaimer: No. I wish. Don't own. =[

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A _whoosh _of air conditioning and the sound of a bell ringing announced my entrance to the comic store. Around me, stacks of comics sat in huge piles and on shelves of every shape and size. Posters of superheroes hung on the walls, covering every available space. At the counter, in a glass box, sat collectible figurines from assorted comics. Behind the counter, the hunched, familiar form of a young guy was leaned over an open comic, his eyes scanning it, almost completely unaware of my presence. I walked over to him, a grin alighting on my face. As I tapped his shoulder, he jumped up, a hand immediately twitching to fix his hair. When he realized it was just me, he visibly relaxed.

"You scared me half to death," he muttered darkly at me. My grin only grew as I looked down at him. "So?" I asked, my heart hammering against my ribs and my hands unconsciously growing clammy. He looked at my desperate face, and I suppose took pity on me and nodded. "She's here," he said quietly. I immediately turned, heading straight for my bike. I didn't hear Douglas call my name, and I doubt it would have stopped me anyways.

I was a madman. I was insane. I was crazy.

I was finally going to see her.

Hopping onto the Indian and flooring it to get to her house, I could practically feel my hands shaking. Her street, the one I had driven down many times hoping for a glimpse of her, was quiet and empty in the daylight. I remembered all the times I had gone out of my way to just pass by her house and only drove faster.

Finally reaching her house I jumped off, not even bothering to turn the bike off. I ran up the steps to her house, taking huge strides. I almost had to stop myself from running. I raised my hand to the doorbell, then stopped.

What if her MOM was in there? It would be just my luck to find her mom there.

And what was I going to say? I had just driven here, without thinking anything, or thinking about what to say or what to do or how to act.

What if she liked someone else? What if I was too late? What if she had finally come to her senses and realized I was trouble?

There were too many What Ifs. The only way to find out what would actually happen was to ring the doorbell.

"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon," I muttered to myself and finally, gathering my courage, I pressed my finger to the bell. The _ding dong_ seemed almost ominous to me. I slipped my hands in my pockets, tense and nervous, and I was fairly certain that if I moved too fast I would puke.

I heard someone getting off the couch, and I swore I could hear someone running to the door.

Biting my lip, I took a deep breath. The click of the lock being slid back pressed into my ears. Everything seemed ten times more amplified, more sudden and abrupt. I didn't like the terror I felt, my heart pounding in my ears, blood rushing to my face, as if I was a child.

The door opened, and I stared into her eyes. I was scared. Utterly and completely terrified. And she looked....

Mad.

But I wouldn't use my fears to run away from her. I had to say something eventually.

So I said one word. One word only.

"Jess."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N:VI would just like to point out that YES, I know I suck. And this chapter has been a looooong time coming. Unfortunately, life got in my way. Again. But here is the final chapter of this three parter. I tried to make it freaking awesome, I hope you know. And lengthy. Pleeeeease review, if only so I know that my guilt trips were necessary in order to get this out.

Disclaimer: Blaaaaaaaah. Don't own. You know it. SHHH.

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"Get the hell off my property."

Okay. I hadn't been expecting that at all. Glancing into her eyes worriedly, I hoped that I had misheard.

"Whoa, Mastriani. What's going on?"

Her eyes bore into me. If looks could kill, I'd not only be dead, I'd probably be similar to the shape of swiss cheese. Holey. Holy. Holy crap, she looks pissed. A feeling of dread grew in me as her unwavering stare hit me like a sledge hammer.

"You heard me. Get away from me," she snarled.

Her tone grew even more livid as she spoke. Poison practically dripped off her tongue, leaving me awash in confusion, and frankly, anger. I honestly had no idea what I'd done to hurt her. Unless…could she have heard about my plan to marry her? Was she mad about that? How could she have heard? I hadn't told anyone.

No. She couldn't be mad about that. Though it seemed like the only option that I could think of, it seemed unlikely.

"Mastriani, what are you saying? What the hell is your problem?"

Probably not the best way to phrase that, I realized. The words were out though, and there was nothing I could do to take them back.

"You know what you did. I saw you. Have fun with the blonde. Really. I expect you'll have great fun with her. I see many dazzling conversations of wit and intelligence in your future. Maybe you can marry her, and raise her blond bimbo babies!"

I would have laughed at how ridiculous that sounded, if I wasn't too busy growing from annoyed to pissed. She had to bring up marriage. She had to see me with Nancy. She HAD to overreact and not even give me the benefit of the doubt. Nothing.

Why did she have to bring up marriage, I wondered. The one thing she could've said to kill me inside, and she found it. How she managed to do it, I was still unsure. My jaw clenched in fury, and my voice lashed out against her.

"Jess, you don't know what you're talking about. That's Nancy. She always kisses the mechanics. I was fixing her carburetor!"

I couldn't look at her. I couldn't believe that she wouldn't trust me. That she would so quickly believe the worst in me.

Just like her fucking mother. Like mother, like daughter. Yes, it was unfair of me to compare her to her mother, but at the moment, I had never seen her so…similar. It terrified me. Where was the girl I knew?

"Oh that's great. Kissed the mechanic? Yeah, I bet you just hated that. And all the other times I'm sure she's kissed you, hm? Did you hate it then Rob? I'll just bet you did." Her voice was sarcastic, and it did as it was intended to. It whipped me, angered me, built me up and crushed me. Did she know what she was doing to me?

"It's true Mastriani. But fine. If you don't want to believe it, that's your choice. I can't believe you don't believe me! When have I ever lied to you? Oh, that's right. Never! Jess, you know I wouldn't do that to you. You know it! Or at least you used to. This isn't you, Jess, and you know it! Besides, when have you ever run away from anything? The Jess I knew NEVER would have run away. She would have knocked Nancy out, then me."

I was desperate. Clinging to hope I didn't have, failing to get her to see that she was the only one I could ever want, ever need. All because of one thing that she didn't understand. That she ran from so quickly, and so far that I couldn't catch up.

The worst part was the tears I saw in her eyes. She hid it well, but I had memorized her so completely it was like trying to hide a mistake in the Mona Lisa from Da Vinci. Impossible.

"What do you mean? So I've learned some self control. Doesn't mean I didn't see you kissing another girl! It doesn't erase that fact Rob!"

Her words were defensive. They were her shield. She held onto them because they were all she had, but I held on to her because she was all I had.

"I told you that nothing happened! And that's not self control, Jess. That's you. Something is going on with you, and it's not anything that has to do with me. I know you just came back from the war. I know you've seen some things. But this isn't you. You don't run!"

Something in her had changed, that was for sure. I couldn't recognize the look in her eyes. One that surely matched mine. Was it the feeling of being lost that we both shared?

"The only thing that's changed about me is I've lost my powers. That's it. Is that the issue? Is it because I lost my powers?"

For a moment, time stood still. She had said the one thing that could break me so completely. An accusation that she knew was untrue.

That she had no right to say.

That crushed my dreams of a happily ever after.

That killed me.

That made my whole world crumble.

That made me realize that no matter what I did, how much I changed, she'd still see what she wanted to see. Because she had changed just like I had, but in a very different way. Which is why when I spoke once more, my voice was soft and defeated.

"You know that's not it Jess. It's not me. You're broken! The war broke you. And that's fine. That's understandable! But you don't need to take it out on me Jess. You're broken. That's all there is to it."

Walking away was the hardest thing I'd ever done.

_One step._

Not looking back was the hardest thing I've ever done.

_Two steps._

Walking to my motorcycle alone was the hardest thing I've ever done.

_However many steps it took to leave the only girl I'd ever loved._

Nothing, and I mean nothing, though, was harder than getting on my bike that she had always loved and riding off. Not into the sunset like a knight in shining armor though. Because I wasn't the knight, and she was no damsel in distress. What we were was nothing more than two people, broken.

* * *

I pulled into the almost empty bar. Chick didn't ask questions when I asked for something that burned. The bottle of whiskey he handed me was enough to make me lose control completely. I nodded my thanks, left money on the table, and drove home.

At which point, I sat at the table meant for her and I, thinking of the chairs I desperately hoped she would have liked, the bed I wished we could have shared, everything that I had picked for her. Looking at this, I downed the bottle.

I blamed it on the alcohol later. I blamed it on something in my eye. But the truth was, for the first time in years, I cried. I cried, head in hands, for the girl with the fierce personality and dark eyes. I cried for the only girl who could leave me like this. She wasn't the only one who was broken, in the end.

I was too.


End file.
